BENTON COUNTY, Wash. – After a mandatory manual recount, Mike Massey is confirmed to have won the Benton County Public Utility District Commissioner Pos. 3 race by only seven votes.
Benton County Auditor Brenda Chilton says 58,075 votes were physically recounted, with the process finishing up at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday.
The recount found that Massey won the race with 23,796 votes, only seven more than his opponent Barry Bush, who garnered 23,789 votes.
From the election to the recount, Chilton says three “variances” were reported that widened the difference from six votes to seven votes:
A vote for a write-in candidate was detected by the tabulation software as a vote for Bush, removing one vote for Bush.A stray mark was detected as a vote for Bush but was determined to not be a vote, removing one vote for Bush.A voter correction that was detected as a vote for Massey was determined to not be a vote, removing one vote for Massey.
Certification of the recount will take place Tue., Dec. 10 at 11 a.m. at the Benton County Elections Center.
